Spicy Noodle Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce

I’ve been making this dish for as long as I can remember. To be honest, I don’t even recall where the recipe or idea came from, it’s such a peculiar blend of ingredients. I will say, though, that it is a fan favorite. It is one of my husband’s top requests. In fact, this very dish that I made and photographed for this blog entry, was his Birthday lunch last week. Poor guy was standing next to me as I took the “finished product” photos, asking, “Can I eat it now? Now? Ok, that’s like the 100th photo you’ve taken. Now?” I’ll admit that this dish is a bit out of my normal wheelhouse of traditional comfort food and Italian classics. It’s sort of the dark horse in my regular rotation, but nevertheless, always a huge hit. Something wonderful about this dish is the complicated, incredibly savory and delicious Thai flavors, achieved in just a few simple ingredients. Try this once, and I’m sure it will be come a once-a-week staple in your house as well.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, cut into 1″ pieces

3 T. vegetable oil

1/2 lb. linguine, or other long noodle

1/2 c. peanut butter (I like to use crunchy for the added texture of the peanuts, but you can of course use creamy if you’d prefer)

1.5 c. Kraft Catalina dressing

3 T. soy sauce, divided

1 crown broccoli, cut into bite sized florets

4 oz. sugar snap peas, halved

1 c. shredded carrot

Juice from 1 lime

1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 c. chopped, toasted peanuts *optional garnish

Instructions:

Bring salted water to boil and cook pasta according to your brand’s instructions

Season chicken with salt and pepper, and sauté in a large pan with vegetable oil and 1 T. soy sauce until cooked through

Set chicken aside and keep warm *Note: I like to wrap it in foil until ready to use

About 2 minutes before pasta is ready, add broccoli and snap peas to the water. Cook until pasta is done and vegetables are al dente.

Return pasta and vegetables to the pan, add chicken, sauce, and shredded carrots *Note: My family likes the texture of shredded carrots in this dish, but you can use any cut you prefer. If it is a larger cut, however, be sure to blanch the carrots in the pasta water with the broccoli and peas. There’s no need to pre-cook the shredded variety. They are so thin that the residual heat from the other ingredients will soften them nicely.